Academic Advances

Educating to Transform Care

There is a straight line from innovation in medical education to the best health care. Read below to learn about advancements in our teaching and research areas that are transforming medical care.

GHS Named an Academic Health Center

In late October, Greenville Health System achieved recognition as the nation’s 99th academic health center. Only about two percent of healthcare systems in the U.S. are academic health centers. According to the Association of Academic Health Centers, a “center” typically is a university with a medical school and at least one other health profession school that owns or is affiliated with one or more teaching hospitals or health systems.

Academic health centers are teaching hospitals that provide a range of care from routine to highly complex, develop new technologies and treatments, provide patients first-in-region access to clinical trials, conduct research and educate new healthcare providers. Learn more at GHS Clinical University.

Unique Clinical University Model

When GHS was named an academic health center, it joined with primary academic partners Clemson University, Furman University and the University of South Carolina to announce a unique model—GHS Clinical University—that paves the way for breakthroughs in healthcare delivery, access, efficiency and affordability.

GHS’ health system-centric model is the first of its kind in the nation. Unlike traditional academic health centers with one academic institution, GHS partners with multiple universities to improve patient care through real-world education, workforce development and research collaborations. With this model, GHS Clinical University oversees all research, academics and education in the system. Learn more at GHS Clinical University.

Embedded Scholar Program

GHS Clinical University and primary research partner Clemson University established the region’s first Embedded Scholar program. This program allows postdoctoral fellows to work alongside GHS physicians and Clemson health research faculty to find ways to improve patient care and reduce healthcare costs.

The first group of fellows arrived in June, focusing their research on surgical processes, obstetrics, geriatrics and health information systems. Discoveries made by the scholars have the potential to impact patient care at a national level.